ShareCooling to heal
Therapeutic hypothermia cools the body of patients who have suffered brain damage to a moderate temperature (between 32°C and 34°C) in order to slow the deterioration process.
In 2002, the publication of two major clinical trials provided evidence that this technique effectively prevents advancement of neurological injury. Since then, its use has become almost systematic for cases of post-cardiac failure comas.
Two methods are possible:
. either external cooling, whereby the patient is wrapped in a blanket in which cold air or liquid flows,
. or internal cooling which refrigerates the blood by injecting a physiological serum or by installing a cold catheter in the vena cava. But the researchers want to go further by replacing blood with a saline solution cooled to 10°C in order to suspend the patient's metabolism during treatment of injuries.
Deep hypothermia has already yielded good results, for the moment mainly on animals.
Two methods are possible:
. either external cooling, whereby the patient is wrapped in a blanket in which cold air or liquid flows,
. or internal cooling which refrigerates the blood by injecting a physiological serum or by installing a cold catheter in the vena cava. But the researchers want to go further by replacing blood with a saline solution cooled to 10°C in order to suspend the patient's metabolism during treatment of injuries.
Deep hypothermia has already yielded good results, for the moment mainly on animals.